[German version] A river in Bactria, which rises in the Paraponisus and supposedly joins the Ochus to the west of the Zariaspes (Balhāb), and then flows together with the Ochus into the Oxus ( Araxes [2]). In fact there were two different rivers called Ochus, confused by Ptolemy: the Zariaspes (Balḫāb) and the Harērud. The former must be the one referred to here, which joins the Oxus, as the D. or Qunduz river (Arabic Nahr al-Ḍarġm̄) flows into the latter. Ptolemy (or his predecessor Marinus) ma…

[German version] The largest tell (50 ha) in the foothills of the mountains of southern Turkmenia, to the southeast of Ašḫābād. Excavations since 1949. Basis for the structure of southern Turkmenian Chalcolithic and Bronze Age cultures (NMG strata I-V: 5th-2nd millennia BC) and the early Iron Age (NMG stratum VI: 1st millennium BC). The excavations so far encompass only part of the site, and the interpretations are somewhat disputed. Abandoned since the Achaemenid period. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography P.L. Kohl, Central Asia. Palaeolithic Beginnings to the Iro…

[German version] Area in south-eastern Iran and south-western Pakistan, roughly equivalent to modern Baluchistan. Now a largely arid mountainous area with deep valleys, known from Arrian's account of the difficulties encountered by Alexander's army on its return march. The coast is described in detail in the Voyage of Nearchus (Arr. Anab. 6,22-26; Str. 15,723). Bearers of various cultures since the 8th millennium, they were possibly the ancestors of the Brahui, who are linguistically close to the …

[German version] (Καττίγαρα;
Kattígara). Port in South-East Asia first mentioned by Ptol. (1,11,1; 17,4; 23) and Marcianus of Heraclia (1,46, GGM I, p. 538); a ὅρμος τῶν Σινῶν (‘harbour of the Sinai’). The name of the Σῖναι (
Sînai) points to C. being in the region of the Gulf of Tonking, of the ancient Μέγας κόλπος (
Mégas kólpos) [1] or Σινῶν κόλπος (
Sinôn kólpos) [2], as Marcianus himself and also Ptol. 7,3,3 call it. It formed the southern border of the
Sînai and, according to ancient belief in around AD 200 it represented the eastern end of the
Oikouménē . In this area…

[German version] A. Sources Herodotus was the first to write about ancient B., and he was closest to the events he describes; all further tradition is secondary, mainly also the information relating to the epoch of Alexander [4] the Great by Arrian (A.) and Curtius Rufus, who refer back to Aristobulus, Ptolemy and Cleitarchus. Strabo (11,11) and Ptolemy (6,11 N) give coherent representations of B. and, in addition, there are scattered accounts by Aelianus [2], Aeschylus, Aristotle, Diodorus Sicul…

[German version] (ancient name and date of foundation unknown). Sogdian city of Pantcakat on the Serafsan, northern Tadjikistan; trading and artisan centre with gold extraction. A citadel, the inner city with two temples, suburbs and a necropolis are preserved. Wall paintings with local, Indian and Graeco-Roman motifs were found in temples and private houses, e.g. the fable by Aesop of the goose that laid the golden eggs. In addition, bracteates with the Roman she-wolf based on Byzantine coins wer…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids ‘The fair (city) of Shapur’, rectangular seat of residence of Shapur I (241-272, Sapor), in south-west Iran. Constructed by Roman prisoners of war after Shapur's victories over Gordianus, Philippus Arabs and Valerians, consequently using Roman stonemasonry techniques (clamping hewn stones with iron ‘swallowtails’). I.a., a temple of Anahita has been excavated, a square hall with an outer corridor on each side. The central, domed hall (22 × 22 m,
c. 25 m high) of the quarry-stone palace was extended …

[German version] (Σῖνα;
Sîna). C. comprises within its modern borders several ancient cultural zones, with various traditions and ties looking to the west and the south. The steppe zone in the north was in continuous contact with western Siberia and eastern Europe from at least the 2nd millennium BC, always under the influence of the central Chinese cultures of the Yellow River region and the coastal zone. Southern China was orientated towards the south and south-east. Traffic along the ‘silk roads…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Byzantium | Hellenistic states | Hellenistic states | Limes Often mentioned stronghold in Armenia, mentioned by Pol. 8 .23 for the year 189 BC, located by Plin. HN 6.26 (
Arsamosata Euphrati proximum) and mentioned by Tac. Ann. 15.10 for the year AD 62. In Ptol. 5.12.8: Ἀρσαμόσατα (
Arsamósata). Either identical to Erzurum (upper western Euphrates) or situated south of the eastern Euphrates between the latter and the Tigris. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Treidler, Hans (Berlin)

[German version] [1] Coastal area of Indo-China A coastal area of Indo-China mentioned by Ptol. 7,2,6. Excavations in Arikamedu indicate that this region enjoyed trade with Rome during the 1st cent. AD. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) [German version] [2] City of southern China City of southern China recorded only by Ptol. 7,3,5, possibly associated with the πόλις Ἀσπίθρα (
pólis Aspíthra) and the Psitharas river mentioned by Plin. HN 6,35. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin)

[German version] (today Šahr-e Kohna). Capital of the satrapy Arachosia, rectangular city of the Kushans ( Kushan) and Kushano-Sassanids, in three parts: 1. the fortified residential city with central citadel, 2. two suburbs, 3. a Buddhist monastery with stupa and aqueduct system. A rock inscription of Aśoka (Greek Aramaic bilingual inscription) contains a religious-social proclamation of the Maurya ruler. The choice of the two languages indicates the settlement of Greeks and Syrians in the 3rd…

[German version] [1] River in Susiana River in Susiana, famed for the high quality of its water. The Persian king drank only (boiled) water from the Choaspes, carried for him on campaigns and journeys in silver jugs. Partially identified with the Eulaeus, nowadays with the Karkhe or the Kârûn. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) [German version] [2] River of the southern Hindu Kush River of the southern Hindu Kush, named only the context of Alexander's campaign (Aristot. Mete. 1,13,16; Aristobulus in Str. 15,1,26); in Arr. Anab. 4,2…

[German version] (πρασώδης θάλασσα/
prasṓdēs thálassa, the 'green sea'). Described by Ptol. 7,2,1 and 7,3,6, Marcianus [1] (Periplus maris exteri 1,44 = GGM 1,44) and Anon. Geographia Compendiaria 32 (= GGM 2,32) as the part of the region of the Indian Ocean that is coloured by a leek-like "sea moss". The appearance of this seaweed points to a shallow zone probably close to a coastline, which could have been near the East African coast north of Zanzibar. From the Augustinian era on, Greco-Roman ships…

[German version] (Τάοχοι, cf. Xen. An. 4,4,18
et passim; according to Sophaenetus FGrH 109 F 2 also Τάοι/
Táoi). Mountain people in northern Armenia, who maintained several fortified places with stores of foodstuffs in the valley of the Glaucus (tributary of the modern Çoruh Nehri). The T. were not directly dependent on the Great King, but occasionally served in the Persian army as mercenaries. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography A. Herrmann, s. v. T., RE 4 A, 2247.

[German version] (Νομάδες/
Nomádes). Nomads are wandering shepherds leading a special form of non-sedentary life, which is adapted, thanks to herd raising, to arid steppe regions of Eurasia and Africa. We may distinguish between: 1. nomads keeping sheep, horses, camels, and cattle (partly yaks) in north Eurasia; 2. those breeding sheep, goats, and camels, sometimes also keeping donkeys, in Arabia, Iran, India, and North Africa; 3. nomads breeding mainly cattle in East Africa. Greeks, Romans, and Byz…

(Ἀράξης;
Aráxēs). [German version] [1] Largest river in Armenia Largest river in Armenia (today known as the Aras, Georgian Rakhsî), flows into the Caspian Sea; its full extent was not known until Roman times (Pompey) (Mela 3,40; Plin. HN 6,26; Ptol. 5,12,3 M. i.a.). Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Treidler, Hans (Berlin) [German version] [2] Another name for the Oxus According to Hdt. 1,202, another name for the Oxus (today Amu-darja), a western tributary of which (today: Wadi Usboi) reached as far as the Caspian Sea in Neolithic times. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Treidler, Hans (Berlin) …

[German version] (Κερκέται;
Kerkétai). Tribe on the north-eastern coast of the Pontus Euxinus on the slopes of the Caucasus. The name of what are today the Circassians was known to Greek geographers early on, but the details they provide about where the C. lived do not agree with each other (according to Str. 11,492; 496f. between the Heniochi and the Moschi). Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Danoff, Christo (Sofia) Bibliography W. Kroll, s.v. Kerketai, RE 11, 291f. T. M. Minajeva, Archaeological Research in the Land of the Circassians (Russian), 1953, 34ff. Ch. Danoff, s.v. Pontos E…

[German version] A river in Media, mentioned in Ptol. 6,2,2, today Sefi Rud, in the territory of the Καδούσιοι (
Kadoúsioi) tribe, originally supposedly belonged to the territory of the Ἄμαρδοι (
Ámardoi; Str. 11,8,8). The Amardi migrated out of Ariana in the time of the Persian empire and settled by the Caspian Sea and in the mountainous area to the south. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography Atlas of the World, pl. 32, 1959 Großer Histor. Weltatlas I, 15 c.

[German version] (Σακαστανή/
Sakastanḗ: Isidorus of Charax, Stathmoí Parthikoí 18 = GGM 1,253). The land on the middle course of the Etymander (Helmand), between Arachosia and Drangiana, occupied since the 2nd cent. BC by Sacae, also called Paraetacene by Isidorus of Charax. When the Indo-Parthian king Gondophares conquered the Indian land of the Saces, it appears that he also occupied Arachosia and Sacastane. Ardašīr (Ardashir [1] I), the first Sassanid king (224-241), conquered the land of Sacast…

[German version] [1] City in Bactria A city in Bactria, named only by Arr. Anab. 3,29,1, apart from Bactra (today Balch) the greatest city of this land, and probably identical with the present-day Tashkurgan [1]. In the castle of A., Alexander left behind a garrison in 329 BC. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography
1 Atlas of the World II, Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, 1959, pl. 31. [German version] [2] Mountain fortress near the Indus Mountain fortress near the Indus, allegedly conquered by Hercules and then by Alexander 328 BC (Arr. Anab. 4,28,1; Ind. 5,10; A…

[German version] Finds of coins from the period of the Indo-Greek kings Artemidorus [1], Peucolas and Archebius (around 130 BC) and the Saka king Azes I (around 70 BC) prove that G. was an important centre in the Graeco-Bactrian period. The Buddhist monastery of Tapa Sardar (2nd-4th cents. AD) discovered closeby and buildings of the Islamic Ghaznowid dynasty of the 11th-12th cents. attest to the continuous importance of the region. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography F. R. Allchin, N. Hammond, The Archaeology of Afghanistan from the earliest times to the Timuri…

[German version] Iranian deity of water and fertility; the name means ‘unpolluted’, ‘spotless’. She is described very specifically in Yt. 5,126-129; presumably the description is of a statue. The animal seen as sacred to her was the beaver. First mentioned in Iranian inscriptions at the time of Artaxerxes II. According to Clement of Alexandria (Protrept. 5,65,3), Berossus (III) reported that Artaxerxes had had statues of A. erected in Bactria, Ecbatana, Susa, Babylon, Damascus and Sardes. A popular deity from the Parthian era, with …

[German version] (Ἀρμαουίρα;
Armaouíra). City mentioned in Ptol. 5.12.5 M. and 8.19.11 N. on the left bank of the Aras, the Urartian Argistichinili. Castle and residence on the crest of a mountain, the city below it on the slope leading down to the River A.; first capital of the Armenian kingdom. Excavations have revealed Urartian material, as well as ancient Armenian strata, including a gold medallion picturing the goddess Anahita (?). Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography A. A. Martirosjan, Argistichinili I, Archeologiceskie Pamjatniki Armenii 8, 1974.

[German version] [1] City in Boeotia (Νῖσα/
Nîsa). City in Boeotia, mentioned only in the Homeric catalogue of ships (Hom. Il. 2,508). In Antiquity, it was identified (Paus. 1,39,4-6) with Megara [2], the main port of which was called Nisaea, but this is unlikely. Evidence: Str. 9,2,14; Dionysius Calliphontus 102; schol. Theocr. 12,27; schol. Hom. Il. 2,508. Freitag, Klaus (Münster) Bibliography E. Visser, Homers Katalog der Schiffe, 1997, 279f. [German version] [2] City and fortress complex in Turkmenistan This item can be found on the following maps: Graeco…

[German version] (Βάκτρα;
Báktra). Commercial and residential town at the intersection of two caravan routes in north Afghanistan. Originally Ζαρίασπα (
Zaríaspa; Arr. 3,1,5,71; Pol. 10,49) or Zariastes (Plin. HN 6,48). Today densely populated and, therefore, only excavations at the edge of the tell. Antiochus III besieged Euthydemus in vain in 206 BC; the latter built up the Graeco-Bactrian empire from here ( Bactria). In 1966, a hoard find brought forth more than 170 Greek coins from the period before 380 BC. Inhabited and fortified until today. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Trei…

[German version] (Κύρτιοι;
Kýrtioi, Lat.
Cyrtii). Mentioned at Str. 11,523; 727 as nomads in northern Media and Persia. Pol. 5,52,5 mentions the C. as reserve troops of the Median governor Molon in the struggle against Antiochus III. Liv. 37,40,9 mentions them as opponents of the Romans in the battle of Magnesia (190 BC); at Liv. 42,58,13 they appear as Roman mercenaries with Callinicus (171 BC). On the basis of their name, they are seen as the ancestors of the Kurds. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin)

[German version] Inland body of water between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan; it receives hardly any precipitation and the only water supply is from the Syr-darja and Amu-darja. The area covered by water in antiquity was more than double the size than that in 1962. The areas abandoned after the departure of nomads moving to Bactria (140-120 BC) have become desertified since then, in the same way as the western and north-eastern parts of Chorezmia. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin)

[German version] Oval city site east of Lake Aral (800 × 600 m), with a citadel and six funerary buildings of the 4th-2nd cents. BC. Interpreted as the capital city of the Apasiaci, abandoned in the late 2nd cent. BC. In the 3rd (?) cent. AD a rectangular fortification of the Khorezm state was built on the city site. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography S. P. Tolstov, Po drevnim del'tam Oksa i Jaksarta, 1962.

[German version] (Σάκαι/
Sákai, Σάκκαι/
Sákkai: different variants of the name,
e.g., in Aristoph. Av. 31; Xen. Cyr. 8,3,25-32; 8,3,35-50; Hdt. 7,64;
Sacae: Plin. HN 6,50, among others). Derived from the Persian name for the nomads of central Asia, possibly called after the tribal group's name for itself. For Str. 11,8,2, “most of the Scythians” east of the Caspian Sea are S. According to the ancient Persian inscriptions, there were several leagues, the
Sakā haumavargā (= Σκύθαι Ἀμύργιοι/
Skýthai Amýrgioi, approximately ‘haoma-drinking S.’) and the
Sakā tigraḫaudā (Σκύθαι Ὀρθοκορ…

[German version] (Greek Γανδαρικὴ χώρα /
Gandaríkē chṓra; Ethnic groups:
Gandarai,
Gandarioi), district on the Kābul. According to Herodotus (3,91), the Gandarioi, together with the tribes of the Sattagydai, Aparytai and Dadikai, formed the ancient Persian Empire's seventh satrapy, which essentially covered the Kabulistan alpine territory intersected by the Cophen, between Paropanisos (Hindu Kush) and the upper Indus, and the mountain range itself. In spite of difficult passes along the Cophen, the routes through G. were used, from at least the 4th cent. B…

[German version] or Amu Darya treasure; hoard taken from the area of this river (Araxes [2]) to India, and since 1897 exhibited in London. It comprises some 1,500 coins, worked gold and silver, a number of roll seals and gems. Coins: Achaemenid period Greek imports and recoinings, and about 100 tetradrachmai and 100 drachmai of Alexander III, Seleucus I, Antiochius I and II and Diodotus I. The gold works form several groups: statuettes, sumptuous bracelets in various styles, brooches, pot handles in the shape of a Bezoar ibex, a model quadriga, fragments of the sheath of an
akinákēs (Pers…

[German version] (also Alexandria [5], later Antioch [7]), principal town of Margiana; an oasis at the delta of the Murgab (or Margus); 30 km east of modern Mary in southern Turkmenistan. Inhabited since the Neolithic. First blossom in the 2nd millenium. The citadel of Erk-/Ark-Kala was built in the Achaemenid period; in Hellenistic times a town with rectangular grid pattern was attached to it. M. belonged to the Parthian and later to the Sassanid kingdom. It was conquered by the Arabs in 651 AD. Excavations have uncovered both Parthian and medieval remains. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bi…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with (Καπίσα; Kapiša-kaniš, Behistun inscription [1. D]), now Bagrām. City in the Ghorband Valley, 45 km north of Kabul, known since 1833. Capital city of Indo-Grecian kings (2nd-1st cents. BC), summer residence of the Kushanians). Two rooms in the ‘palace’ contained inlaid works of art: Chinese lacquer work, Indian ivory and Hellenistic work. Plaster moulds for pouring metal reliefs are regarded as Alexandrian imports but prove the production of Hellenistic art works in Bactria. Brentjes, Burchard (Berl…

[German version] Eastern Iranian people (Σαράγγαι,
Sarángai, in Hdt. 3,93) on the lower course of the Etymander (the modern Hilmand/Helmand Rūd); the country itself was called Drangiana, and that seems in any case to be the Medio-Persian form. Together with some tribes of the central desert and Carmania, the Sarangae appear in Herodotus as linked to a tax district, on the southern side of the Parthians and Hyrcanians. In the army of Xerxes the Sarangai bore Median weaponry (Hdt. 7,67,1). A legendary cycle is bound up with the hero-names Keršāsp and Rōstam. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Du…

[German version] From Âpaçaka = ‘Water Sacae’ (?), in Str. 11,6-7,513 and Pol. 10,48. Possibly in the Šany-darja delta, their residence Cirik-Rabat-Kala (?). Babiš-Mulla 1 is a fortified palace, the funeral monuments Babiš-Mulla 2 and Balandy 2 are domed buildings and represent a preliminary stage of the development of Islamic mausoleums. The region was abandoned in 150 BC. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin)

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Sassanids | Alexander | Graeco-Bactria | Graeco-Bactria (Μαράκανδα, ἡ Μαρακάνδα;
Marákanda,
hē Marakánda), modern Afrasiab/Samarkand, founded as an oasis city at the end of the 14th cent. BC in the fertile plain of the Polytimetus (modern Serafšān), old capital of Sogdiana (Arr. Anab. 3,30,6), the size of 60
stadia (Curt. 7,6,10). Trading centre for trade to the north and east (finds from the Tang period). There is hardly any information about the period before Alexander [4] the …

[German version] I. General points Climate is the sum of the weather phenomena occurring in a given region over longer periods of time. In combination with the nature of the soil, the water resources and other natural conditions it determines the possibility of human existence. Natural irregularities lead to differences in the energy radiation on to the earth's surface, the circulation of air masses and therefore the distribution of moisture. Changes affect in particular those areas on the limits of …

[German version] (Καυκάσιαι Πύλαι;
Kaukásiai Pýlai). Pass in the Caucasus, only mentioned in Plin. HN 6,30; the same as what is now the Georgian military road, described in Ptol. 5,8,9 as Σαρματικαὶ Πύλαι (
Sarmatikaì Pýlai). Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Treidler, Hans (Berlin)

[German version] (Πράσον ἀκροτήριον/
Práson akrotḗrion). Southernmost cape on the African coast reached by the Greeks. It was considered to be the northwestern border of the legendary 'land of the south' (Ptol. 7,2,1) - the counterpart to Cattigara as the corner of Asia. According to the longitudinal data of several seafarers, it lay south of the equator, see Ptol. 1,8. It could have been Cape Ras Kansi near Dār as-Salām. P. was reached by the owners of trading vessels who were either driven south w…